


Little Red Boxes

by ladyxgreywolf



Series: Christmas fics [4]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Dinner, F/M, Hood-Mills Family, One Shot, Outlaw Queen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-10
Updated: 2015-06-10
Packaged: 2018-04-03 19:23:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4112217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyxgreywolf/pseuds/ladyxgreywolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Hood-Mills family celebrate their first Christmas together, six months after defeating the Snow Queen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Red Boxes

**Author's Note:**

> Events in _Heroes and Villains_ and the second half of season 4 are not included, except for the fact that Killian's got his heart back. I needed some happy Hood-Mills Christmas moments!

It’s not every day that you wake up to the delighted scream of a little boy who then half-stumbles, half-falls down the stairs in the house.

     “IT’S CHRISTMAS!” Roland yelled as he ran past the door to the master bedroom and thundered down the stairs, causing both Regina and Robin to jolt wide awake. Regina groaned when she realized it was still dark outside and that the digital clock on her nightstand said _5:37am_. Robin chuckled and wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, placing a soft kiss on her shoulder.

     “Merry Christmas”, he mumbled against her skin, sending shivers down her spine. She turned in his arms with a smile.

     “You too.”

     His blue eyes seemed to shine in the darkness that still enveloped them and he brushed his nose against hers before giving her a soft kiss on the lips. As always with the two of them, however, the kiss soon intensified

     “We should get up”, she said when he left her lips to place kisses along her jaw.

     “Roland will be alright”, Robin replied, continuing his trail of kisses down her throat, along her collarbone. Regina sighed as he found _that_ certain spot and sucked on it. She wanted this, so much, but her maternal instincts towards the little boy who was about to experience his first ever Christmas made her push Robin back.

     “Later”, she promised as she got out of bed. He groaned softly in disappointment, causing her to chuckle while she pulled on a silk robe on top of her nightgown. With one last look back at the bed she walked out of the room and down the stairs. Roland bounced towards her at once and chattered on and on about how many presents Santa had left in his stocking by the fireplace, making Regina smile even wider while she carried him into the kitchen to get him some breakfast.

* * *

Storybrooke was covered in a layer of snow, giving it an idyllic (and magical) look. Robin had gotten them a large tree from the forest two days earlier and Henry had taught him and Roland how to decorate it while Regina observed from the kitchen, making hot chocolate and various kinds of Christmas candy. Later that night she had also had to explain Santa to Robin, who had been slightly confused by the story that Henry had told Roland. There were many things that still confused him about this new land, but now he was actually able to handle most of the technological tools located around the town. He had even learned how to drive a car and Regina had secretly bought him one for Christmas. One of those that was environmentally friendly, mind, because that was the only downside Robin saw with cars.

     Now, on Christmas morning, Regina was smiling wider than she had ever done before at the sight of her excited family as they gathered in front of the stockings and the tree to open their presents. Roland was ecstatic about everything, including a pair of knitted socks with red apples, which most other kids his age would have found incredibly boring.

     “Now I can stay warm all the time!” the little boy said as he hugged them to him. Regina and Robin exchanged a glance at that and she thought of the fact that the son of an outlaw in the Enchanted Forest certainly could not have received many gifts out of the blue. They had to stick to what was necessary for survival. Robin saw the sadness in her eyes and reached out to squeeze her hand, silently telling her that everything was alright.

     Henry gaped when he opened an envelope located in his stocking that contained a voucher for private riding lessons. He had shown an interest in horses for quite some time, but with all the things happening around them for the past few years Regina had never managed to give him time to actually go ride at the local stable. She had not even had time to do it herself. But now that the latest threat, the Snow Queen, had been taken care of and no evil had raised its ugly head in the past six months Regina felt reasonably certain they could take some time and enjoy themselves.

     However, the biggest gasp came from Robin when he opened the package containing keys to his new car.

     “Regina”, he said, “how much did you...”

     “Dad”, Roland berated, “it’s from Santa.”

     Robin looked taken aback before he smiled at his son.

     “I think Santa’s spent a lot of money on my gift”, he clarified.

     “Santa probably believed you earned it”, Regina replied. Robin smiled widely and kissed her, causing both of the young boys to make mock-disgusted sounds. Neither of them really complained about the affection their parents were showing one another, though. They never had.

     “Well”, Regina said and rose, “how about we all get ready? The others will be here soon.”

     “But, mom”, Henry protested with a small frown, “what about your gift?”

     “My gift?” Regina asked with a similar frown. She had opened her gifts; her stocking was empty. And there was nothing else beneath the tree.

     “Up there”, Robin whispered in her ear and directed her gaze up the green branches. There, almost at the top, hung a small square box wrapped in red paper. She reached out and plucked it from the branch, weighing it in her hand. It was light and fit on her palm.

     “Who’s it from?” she asked.

     “Santa”, Robin replied and winked, causing her to roll her eyes. Carefully she then removed the red paper and opened the small box. Inside lay a pair of glittering diamond earrings. She gasped at the sight of them and carefully plucked one of them from the velvet it rested on.

     “That’s so pretty!” Roland said. “You’ve been very good this year, mum.”

     It still tugged at Regina’s heart to hear him call her that and she blinked to keep the tears back, before looking up at Robin. He looked back at her, his gaze full of love.

     “They’re really beautiful”, Regina said. “I’ll have to thank Santa later.”

     The corner of Robin’s mouth tilted upwards in a playful smile before he hoisted Roland up over his shoulder.

     “Now, young man”, he loudly said over Roland’s delighted squeal, “it’s time for a bath.”

* * *

The delightful smells coming from the kitchen enveloped Regina as she stepped out of her shower. She also heard voices and guessed David and Mary Margaret had arrived to help Robin with the cooking. Regina could have whipped up a Christmas meal for them all in a second, but Mary Margaret had insisted on helping out. Now Regina could not complain; it gave her more time to get ready. She applied her make-up and did her hair before zipping up her dark red Christmas dress. Lastly she put on the new diamond earrings.

     She was about to leave the bedroom when she noticed another box resting on the nightstand. She was sure it had not been there when she woke up, but it looked like the one from the tree; small, square and wrapped in red paper. It was slightly flatter than the one she had received that morning, but otherwise it looked the same. Slowly she unwrapped also this and found a diamond necklace, matching the earrings she already wore. She stared at the object for a few seconds before fastening it around her neck. Then she took a deep breath and exited the bedroom, walking downstairs.

     Emma and Killian arrived just as she reached the ground floor, Emma in a pale cream dress, much like the one she had wore on her first date with the pirate. Now, over six months into their relationship, the pair was going strong and Regina had her suspicions that Emma might be pregnant, something that was further confirmed by the blonde’s polite decline of a glass of eggnog.

     “You look beautiful”, Robin said in Regina’s ear, having come up behind her while she observed Emma greeting her parents and her baby brother. Regina smiled.

     “Thanks for the necklace”, she said and turned around to face him, “but I really would have found a pair of socks to be enough of a gift.”

     Robin smirked in amusement.

     “Just as I would have”, he said, “but those diamonds... they’re like you Regina. They contain so many layers, have been processed through so long deep down in the darkness and then reveal this brilliant purity.”

     Regina blushed and looked down. Robin, in reply, placed his hand beneath her chin and tilted her head up so that he could kiss her scarlet lips.

     Then the doorbell chimed again, revealing Mr Gold and Belle in a pretty dress that did not make her six month pregnant stomach look strange. Gold had caused them some trouble at the same time as the Snow Queen, but Emma and Regina, and Belle’s persuasion and love, had managed to bring him back to the good man he had started to become while they were in Neverland. Now he rarely used magic for anything and had given Belle the real Dagger, which he had kept from her in the beginning, to make sure that he did not fall back onto the dark path. Behind this pair came another, one that Regina would not have thought she would be happy to see; Marian and the man she had started to spend a lot of her time with. Emmett was his name and he had been a farmer back in the Enchanted Forest. When Marian had woken from the Snow Queen’s spell she and Robin had discussed their relationship and Marian had admitted that they were not who they had been 30 years ago, that they had grown apart, and thus had given Robin and Regina her blessing. Roland still spent time with her every other week, as long as Marian had time, now that she worked fulltime at the kindergarten, and all in all the arrangements seemed to have worked out for all of them.

     “The turkey’s served!” Mary Margaret called from the kitchen shortly afterwards, causing them all to head into the dining room.

     While they ate Regina quietly observed what had now become her family. It was strange to think back on a time when she hated them all, almost as if it had all been a dream. This was good. This was perfect.

     Half-way through dessert Robin suddenly rose, clinking his glass to usher silence.

     “I would first like to thank you all for coming here on this lovely Christmas Day”, he said. “A year ago I could never have thought that I would find myself in a situation like this, especially with the situation back in the Enchanted Forest at the time.”

     There were a few chuckles around the table. Yes, a year ago they had been in the Enchanted Forest, trying to figure out a way to defeat Zelena. It certainly did not feel like it was so recent.

     “Now”, Robin continued, “I find myself in a town very much unlike anything I’ve ever seen, with a very big family to take care of. I have found myself a second son...”

     He looked at Henry with a grin and the teenage boy smiled back.

     “I have found my long lost wife”, Robin continued, looking at Marian, “who has been very gracious when it comes to accepting that I have moved on after 30 years, and who also managed to do the same herself.”

     Marian smiled and Regina could see her squeezing Emmett’s hand.

     “I have also found someone very special”, Robin said and turned towards Regina. “Someone I never thought I’d find, someone who could bring me happiness and joy and love again. A woman who is so much more than I ever thought a human could be.”

     Regina smiled and fought back the blush that crept up her cheeks.

     “Regina”, Robin said, drawing her gaze towards his blue eyes, “I love you. You must have grown tired of hearing me saying that all the time, but that is the truth; I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

     Regina could not hold back the gasp that escaped her when Robin then knelt down next to her chair and pulled out a third box from his pocket. He opened it and inside rested a diamond-studded ring out of white gold.

     “Regina”, Robin said, “will you marry me?”

     Her eyes went from the ring to his face, staring at him in surprise.

     “Say yes”, Marian suddenly said from the other end of the table, causing Regina to look over there. Something in the brunette’s eyes told Regina that she had known that Robin was going to do this and that she might have had a hand in planning it. While she turned back towards Robin Regina felt how tears started to fill up her eyes, tears of happiness and joy beyond anything else she had ever felt, and she slowly managed to nod.

     “Yes”, she whispered while the tears spilled over. “Yes, Robin. Yes!”

     Robin’s lips widened in a grin and he swooped her up, kissing her passionately on the mouth while the others around the table cheered.

     “I love you”, Robin whispered against her lips as they broke apart.

     “I love you too”, Regina replied, then smiled and leaned forward to whisper in his ear, “and Santa’s definitely getting a big thank you tonight.”


End file.
